From "The Republic of Conscience" by Seamus Heaney:
"...The old man rose and gazed into my face
and said that was official recognition
that I was now a dual citizen.
He therefore desired me when I got home
to consider myself a representative
and to speak on their behalf in my own tongue..."

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Time: What a Curious Thing

My dear friends...

Time is so short for me these days. I have had the pleasure of being reminded in so many uncanny ways that being short on time is a condition quite common to us all. I miss my home. I MISS MY BLOG!! Over all, I have had access to the internet, but never from my work desk, and I seem to be spending oh so much more time there lately.

Quick-and-Dirty Tommi news:

1. My operation -- my four-person section -- has had a work load increase of about 300% over the past five weeks.

2. We are splitting our operation now, so we have representatives at our Gate office only four hours per day, six days a week. The gate still runs around the clock, but we have the great privilege of spending most of our time out of body armor now -- YEAH!

3. I owe you ALL holiday cards! (and the sad fact is that I probably have few to none of your addresses... creative solution to follow...)

4. I AM ON A LESS-THAN-30-DAY COUNTDOWN! God willing (insh-Allah, as the Iraqis say), we will be on US soil before the first of the year, so here's to celebrating 2006 at home!!

5. My thanks to friends and family for the ceaseless contributions you make to my life: Grandma E. for the endless packages, jam, and long-distance love; Randy & Yvonne for packages, e-mail and prayer; Mary for drop-everything-and-chat whenever I call, regardless of paper calls, lesson plans and head-splitting reading lists, for being my hero; Abe, James, Brad for staying faithful, helping with planning, mail, logistics and purchasing; Jennifer for staying with me on a grad school search I'm flailing at; KEN! Thank you for the thanksgiving note... You're the greatest; Pat, I couldn't have kept my sanity without your seasoned even-keel; Dr. B -- I believe you keep me in mind, and I thank you for the inspiring strong woman you are; Bob, thank you thank you thank you for not letting a day go by without praying -- I feel it, and it makes a difference; RB -- you are the love of my life; ANYONE I MISSED.... PLEASE FORGIVE ME.

I will try to get you more updates as time keeps passing. I intend to keep the blog going with a considerably different tone once stateside. Those of you who have become friends first through this space may continue to find our interactions rewarding, as I do yours. Thank you all again. From the bottom of my heart. We're almost there...